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Lola is beautiful and troubled. She's tough, responsible, and strong. Caregiver to her brother, Lola resents having to raise not only herself, but her brother as well. Beli is considered cruel, and it's not until she spends time with other members of the family (during Lola's banishment at her grandmother's), that both the reader and Lola begin to understand how Beli became Beli. Unlike Lola, Beli never knew either of her parents or siblings, and as a child she was beaten and burned on a regular basis.

Lola was forced to become independent because her mother had to support the family (Beli worked multiple jobs). She resented her mother for her illness; she resented her mother because she didn't believe her to be a mother at all. Both of these women were strong individuals and both spent their youth desiring to escape from their own lives.